If your family’s roots are in a rural area, you may be familiar with the benefits of your grandmother’s home healing remedies passed down generations. These remedies may include tinctures, herbal salves, and lotions, all aimed at curing anything from chilblains to the common cold.
The reason these home remedies were so commonly used is that doctors were few and far between and so families had to rely on natural curatives grown and processed right at home. Herbal salves, for instance, were often used for rashes, for wound healing, and, of course, as beauty treatments.
Today, we still rely on herbal salves, seeing them as a gentle but effective way to take care of itchy rashes, scrapes, and dry skin.
Do not mistake herbal salves for creams or lotions. The two differ vastly. Creams and lotions tend to have thick, light textures due to the combination of oils and water plus. Herbal salves, on the other hand, tend towards a solid consistency due to combining oil and wax such as soy wax or beeswax.
In both cases, the oil used is an oil-herb infusion. The herbs used usually determine what your end-product is most effective for. For this article, we will take a look at three different herbal salves with multiple uses although our main focus is on inflammation.
Using herbal salves is one of the best ways of utilizing the benefits of herbs on the skin.
The cheery flowers of the calendula plant not only make a bright addition to your flower garden but is also used in many medications aimed at promoting tissue growth and wound healing. Used in a tea or mouth wash, the flowers may help with inflammation in the mouth and decrease plaque. In an herbal salve it may help address:
Research shows calendula to have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, muscle relaxing, and wound healing properties.
To make calendula salve you first need to harvest and dry your flower heads. The best time to do so is just after blooming but before the flowers make seeds. Once cut, dry your flower heads in a dry place with good airflow until completely dry.
Once dry, infuse your flowers in your oil of choice for about a week. Your infusion should ideally have a golden color.
Good oils for your infusion include coconut oil or olive oil.
Considered a weed by many, chickweed is often grown as a cover crop and used as fodder for animals. Yet the leaves, used either in a tea or tincture or used in a topical application may hold numerous benefits. These include:
Besides the skin conditions mentioned, a topical application also has a drying and healing effect on the skin and is often used for minor cuts, burns, insect bites, and rashes. Chickweed, when used in a salad, also adds man beneficial trace minerals and vitamins to your diet.
To make chickweed salve, you first need to harvest your chickweed leaves and allow them to wilt overnight. You would typically do so in either late winter or spring. The amount harvested should have the same volume as the volume of oil you wish to use.
Letting the harvested chickweed wilt overnight decreases the moisture content. If you do not do so, you run the risk of having your infusion spoil.
The infusion process has you chopping up your chickweed and covering it with your oil of choice, i.e. coconut or olive oil. Then heat the oil in a low setting for a few hours. Your infusion should have a dark green color. Strain the infusion.
Cannabis has many beneficial properties. The herb may help reduce inflammation, help in managing neurological and mental disorders because of its effect on the limbic system, and help with sleep and pain management.
People use cannabis in managing the following health issues, amongst many others:
Do be careful when using it internally because certain side effects may manifest like hyperactivity, increases blood pressure and heart rate, and mild hallucinations.
Please note that a topical application does not cause any of these negative responses.
Used topically, cannabis may:
You can use the flowers and leaves for this recipe because both contain numerous benefits for a topical application. You can use either dry or wilted cannabis. Once again, the amount of cannabis used in this recipe should equal the volume of your oil when making your infusion.
You make the infusion by warming the oil and cannabis overheat for several hours. Your infused oil should be dark in color. Once done, strain your oil so that no plant matter is left in your infusion.
Climate plays a role in the consistency of your final product. If your product is too liquid, you could always add a little more beeswax to your mixture. Your end-product should not have a liquid consistency, but one that is thicker than a cream.
While most salves use coconut or olive oil, you could use any carrier oil of your choice. Grapeseed oil is another good option.
RD Many health issues have an element of inflammation and, by associated, adrenal fatigue involved. Inflammation is your immune system’s response to the stress of any type and involves your body’s NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) stress response jumping into action as soon as it is presented with a stressor.
Many people see stress as something affecting you on a mental level, e.g. anxiety and depression. The truth, though, is that stress could also result from external and internal factors. Stress is anything that causes your body’s NEM to respond and encompasses different reactions on a cellular level right throughout your body.
But because we are talking about herbal salves, we will look at the effect of stress on the skin, muscles, and joints and the corresponding inflammation ensuing.
Inflammation is your body’s way of fighting off whatever causes it harm. The main symptoms associated with inflammation include swelling, redness, heat, and pain in the affected areas. During this process, your blood capillaries dilate, and the walls become more porous, allowing white blood cells to move through blood vessel walls to the damaged, infected areas.
The swelling associated with inflammation may result from fluid buildup in the area that puts pressure on the nerves in that area. This may cause pain. At the same time, the heat felt in this area results from the increased blood flow.
While considered a natural response to inflammation, chronic inflammation may become a systemic issue resulting in adrenal fatigue due to your body’s constant elevated cortisol production. This may present in numerous symptoms having a debilitating effect on your quality of life.
The herbal salves mentioned may fight inflammation while helping with the healing process. In so doing they may thus help provide adrenal support in that they may reduce your chances of developing chronic inflammation.
Some people have a sensitivity to certain herbs. They may have the same sensitivity when using herbal salves. Please do a patch test before using them.
Also, do take note that those with adrenal fatigue should take care when using herbal salves and that their use may depend on the stage of your condition. Please talk to your healthcare provider about this.
When using cannabis herbal salve, do take note that your salve may contain THC. THC may pass into your bloodstream and give you a feeling of being high. You should thus not drive if using an herbal salve with a THC component when driving, for example.
While herbs have many healing properties, please take note that you still need to proceed with caution when using herbal salves, especially if you have sensitivities to any of their ingredients.
If you are suffering from an inflammatory skin disorder, here are a few things you can do to help alleviate the situation.
Herbal salves give you a natural option for dealing with inflammatory disorders, but please make sure you do not have a sensitivity to any of the ingredients before using them.
If you would like to know more or need assistance with herbal salves, the team at Dr. Lam Coaching can help. We offer a free** no-obligation phone consultation at +1-626-571-1234 where we will privately discuss your symptoms and various options. You can also send us a question through our Ask The Doctor system by clicking here.
© Copyright 2021 Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.
Herbal salves have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antioxidant properties and may help deal with the symptoms of psoriasis. Although an inflammatory condition, though, psoriasis may be tied to diabetes, heart disease, and depression, and other health issues related to adrenal fatigue. You should thus consider a holistic healing approach.
